# 2023 Kashima Antlers season

The 2023 season was Kashima Antlers' 31st consecutive season in the J1 League, the top flight of Japanese football since the introduction of professional football in 1993. The club finished the 2023 J1 League in fifth place, one place lower than the previous season. They also competed in the Emperor's Cup where they were knocked out in the third round and the J.League Cup where they reached the quarter-finals.

## Squad
### Season squad

| Squad no. | Name | Position(s) | Date of birth (age at start of season) |
| Goalkeepers |||||
| 1 | Kwoun Sun-tae | GK | (1984-09-11)11 September 1984 (aged 38) |
| 29 | Tomoki Hayakawa | GK | (1999-03-03)3 March 1999 (aged 23) |
| 31 | Yuya Oki | GK | (1999-08-22)22 August 1999 (aged 23) |
| 38 | Park Eui-jeong | GK | (2004-05-22)22 May 2004 (aged 18) |
| Defenders |||||
| 2 | Koki Anzai | RB / LB | (1995-05-31)31 May 1995 (aged 27) |
| 3 | Gen Shoji | CB | (1992-12-11)11 December 1992 (aged 30) |
| 5 | Ikuma Sekigawa | CB | (2000-09-13)13 September 2000 (aged 22) |
| 16 | Hidehiro Sugai | LB | (1998-10-27)27 October 1998 (aged 24) |
| 22 | Rikuto Hirose | RB | (1995-09-23)23 September 1995 (aged 27) |
| 28 | Shuhei Mizoguchi | LB | (2004-02-13)13 February 2004 (aged 19) |
| 39 | Keisuke Tsukui | DF | (2004-05-21)21 May 2004 (aged 18) |
| 55 | Naomichi Ueda | CB | (1994-10-24)24 October 1994 (aged 28) |
| Midfielders |||||
| 8 | Shoma Doi (c) | SS / LW / RW | (1992-05-21)21 May 1992 (aged 30) |
| 10 | Ryotaro Araki | AM / FW | (2002-01-29)29 January 2002 (aged 21) |
| 14 | Yuta Higuchi | RM / CM | (1996-10-30)30 October 1996 (aged 26) |
| 15 | Tomoya Fujii | LM / RM | (1998-12-04)4 December 1998 (aged 24) |
| 17 | Arthur Caíke | LW / FW | (1992-06-15)15 June 1992 (aged 30) |
| 20 | Gaku Shibasaki | CM / DM | (1992-05-28)28 May 1992 (aged 30) |
| 21 | Diego Pituca | CM | (1992-08-15)15 August 1992 (aged 30) |
| 24 | Yusuke Ogawa | DM / CM | (2002-04-14)14 April 2002 (aged 20) |
| 25 | Kaishu Sano | DM | (2000-12-30)30 December 2000 (aged 22) |
| 26 | Naoki Sutoh | LM / RM | (2002-10-01)1 October 2002 (aged 20) |
| 27 | Yuta Matsumura | RM / LM | (2001-04-13)13 April 2001 (aged 21) |
| 30 | Shintaro Nago | CM / AM | (1996-04-17)17 April 1996 (aged 26) |
| 33 | Hayato Nakama | LM / AM | (1992-05-16)16 May 1992 (aged 30) |
| 34 | Yu Funabashi | DM | (2002-07-12)12 July 2002 (aged 20) |
| Forwards |||||
| 13 | Kei Chinen | FW / RW | (1995-03-17)17 March 1995 (aged 27) |
| 19 | Blessing Eleke | FW | (1996-03-05)5 March 1996 (aged 26) |
| 36 | Shu Morooka | FW | (2000-12-09)9 December 2000 (aged 22) |
| 37 | Yuki Kakita | FW | (1997-07-14)14 July 1997 (aged 25) |
| 40 | Yuma Suzuki | FW | (1996-04-28)28 April 1996 (aged 26) |
Last updated: 1 September 2023. Source: Kashima Antlers website

## Transfers
### Arrivals

| Date | Position | Player | From | Type |
| 20 September 2022 | DF | Keisuke Tsukui | Shohei High School | Full |
| 17 November 2022 | FW | Shu Morooka | Tokyo International University | Full |
| 25 November 2022 | MF | Tomoya Fujii | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Full |
| 26 November 2022 | FW | Kei Chinen | Kawasaki Frontale | Full |
| 30 November 2022 | DF | Naomichi Ueda | Nîmes | Full |
| 7 December 2022 | GK | Park Eui-jeong | Hanyang Technical High School | Full |
| 8 December 2022 | DF | Gen Shoji | Gamba Osaka | Full |
| 21 December 2022 | MF | Kaishu Sano | Machida Zelvia | Full |
| 25 July 2023 | DF | Hidehiro Sugai | Ventforet Kofu | Full |
| 1 September 2023 | MF | Gaku Shibasaki | | Free agent |

### Departures

| Date | Position | Player | To | Type |
| 30 November 2022 | DF | Daiki Sugioka | Shonan Bellmare | Full |
| 7 December 2022 | GK | Taiki Yamada | Fagiano Okayama | Loan |
| 8 December 2022 | MF | Ryuji Izumi | Nagoya Grampus | Full |
| 12 December 2022 | DF | Kento Misao | Santa Clara | Full |
| 13 December 2022 | MF | Yoshihiro Shimoda | Iwaki FC | Loan |
| 21 December 2022 | DF | Bueno | | Released |
| 22 December 2022 | DF | Naoki Hayashi | Tokyo Verdy | Loan |
| 28 December 2022 | FW | Everaldo | EC Bahia | Full |
| 26 January 2023 | DF | Itsuki Oda | Avispa Fukuoka | Full |
| 29 March 2023 | DF | Koki Machida | Union SG | Full |
| 3 July 2023 | DF | Kim Min-tae | Shonan Bellmare | Loan |
| 4 July 2023 | FW | Itsuki Someno | Tokyo Verdy | Loan |
| 15 July 2023 | DF | Keigo Tsunemoto | Servette FC | Full |
| 15 August 2023 | MF | Ryotaro Nakamura | Ventforet Kofu | Loan |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| J1 League | 18 February 2023 (2023-02-18) | 3 December 2023 (2023-12-03) | Matchday 1 | 5th | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 041.18 |
| J.League Cup | 8 March 2023 (2023-03-08) | 10 September 2023 (2023-09-10) | Group stage | Quarter-final | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 037.50 |
| Emperor's Cup | 7 June 2023 (2023-06-07) | 12 July 2023 (2023-07-12) | Second round | Third round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 44 | 18 | 12 | 14 | 55 | 42 | +13 | 040.91 |
Source: Competitions

### J1 League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 3 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 34 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 42 | 28 | +14 | 58 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League Two group stage |
| 4 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 57 | |
| 5 | Kashima Antlers | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 43 | 34 | +9 | 52 | |
| 6 | Nagoya Grampus | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 41 | 36 | +5 | 52 | |
| 7 | Avispa Fukuoka | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 51 | |

#### Results by matchday

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H |
| Result | W | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | D | D | D | W | L | D | D | W | W | L | W | W | D | W | L | D | L | D | D | L | W |
| Position | 2 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 |

#### Matches

The full league fixtures were released on 20 January 2023.

### Emperor's Cup

As a J1 club, Kashima entered the competition at the second round.

### J.League Cup

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Avispa Fukuoka | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Kashima Antlers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 10 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 3 | Albirex Niigata | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 6 | |
| 4 | Kashiwa Reysol | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 5 | |

#### Quarter-finals

Nagoya Grampus won 3–2 on aggregate.

## Statistics
### Appearances

Squad players with no appearances throughout the season are not listed.
| No. | Pos. | Name | J1 League | J1 League | Emperor's Cup | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | J.League Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| 29 | GK | Tomoki Hayakawa | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| 31 | GK | Yuya Oki | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| 2 | DF | Koki Anzai | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4+3 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Gen Shoji | 4+17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 | 27 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Ikuma Sekigawa | 30 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 37 | 2 |
| 16 | DF | Hidehiro Sugai | 4+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Rikuto Hirose | 20+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4+3 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| 28 | DF | Shuhei Mizoguchi | 4+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 55 | DF | Naomichi Ueda | 34 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 41 | 2 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| 8 | MF | Shoma Doi | 7+17 | 2 | 0+2 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 33 | 2 |
| 10 | MF | Ryotaro Araki | 3+10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | Yuta Higuchi | 31+2 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 37 | 3 |
| 15 | MF | Tomoya Fujii | 9+13 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 29 | 1 |
| 17 | MF | Arthur Caíke | 0+13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3+1 | 2 | 18 | 5 |
| 20 | MF | Gaku Shibasaki | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Diego Pituca | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 37 | 3 |
| 25 | MF | Kaishu Sano | 23+4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 35 | 1 |
| 27 | MF | Yuta Matsumura | 5+15 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 3+2 | 2 | 26 | 4 |
| 30 | MF | Shintaro Nago | 9+5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| 33 | MF | Hayato Nakama | 20+7 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 4+2 | 2 | 35 | 3 |
| 34 | MF | Yu Funabashi | 0+8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| 13 | FW | Kei Chinen | 11+10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 25 | 5 |
| 19 | FW | Blessing Eleke | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 36 | FW | Shu Morooka | 1+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | Yuki Kakita | 19+10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3+1 | 0 | 34 | 5 |
| 40 | FW | Yuma Suzuki | 33 | 14 | 0+1 | 0 | 3+4 | 0 | 41 | 14 |
| Players loaned or transferred out during the season |||||||||||
| 20 | DF | Kim Min-tae | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3+1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 32 | DF | Keigo Tsunemoto | 9+7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | Ryotaro Nakamura | 0+3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | Itsuki Someno | 1+4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2+1 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
Last updated: 3 December 2023. Source: jleague.co, Soccer D.B.

### Goalscorers

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
| Rnk | Pos | No. | Player | J1 | EC | JLC | Total |
| 1 | FW | 40 | Yuma Suzuki | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 2 | FW | 13 | Kei Chinen | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | MF | 17 | Arthur Caíke | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 2 | FW | 37 | Yuki Kakita | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | MF | 27 | Yuta Matsumura | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | MF | 14 | Yuta Higuchi | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | MF | 21 | Diego Pituca | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | MF | 33 | Hayato Nakama | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 9 | DF | 5 | Ikuma Sekigawa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | FW | 8 | Shoma Doi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | FW | 18 | Itsuki Someno | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | DF | 55 | Naomichi Ueda | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | MF | 10 | Ryotaro Araki | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | MF | 15 | Tomoya Fujii | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | DF | 20 | Kim Min-tae | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | MF | 25 | Kaishu Sano | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | MF | 30 | Shintaro Nago | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | 43 | 4 | 8 | 55 |
Last updated: 3 December 2023. Source: jleague.co

### Clean sheets

The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.
| Rnk | No. | Player | J1 | EC | JLC | Total |
| 1 | 29 | Tomoki Hayakawa | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | 31 | Yuya Oki | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 15 | 1 | 3 | 19 |
Last updated: 28 October 2023. Source: fbref.com